


Love Language

by Mistaek



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Exes, Lawyer Lee Taeyong, M/M, Nurse Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung, Vigilante Lee Taeyong
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:34:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28660302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mistaek/pseuds/Mistaek
Summary: Tired Doyoung patches up his ex TaeyongNote: there is a very brief mention of blood in this
Relationships: Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung/Lee Taeyong
Comments: 9
Kudos: 29





	1. Nostalgia

**Author's Note:**

> If it wasn’t for Twitter user pikwanchu ‘s cc this would have never seen the light of day so thanks

Coming home in what was to most people the middle of the night was to Doyoung the norm. He had technically finished his shift a couple hours ago, but he had stayed a little longer at the hospital just to finish up on some paperwork and check up on a few of the student nurses. It wasn’t a long walk home, thankfully he had managed to find a place closer to work a few weeks ago and he no longer had to spend an extra twenty minutes on a night bus. The streets did tend to be empty at this time on a weeknight.

He didn’t have much further to walk, he was about to turn into his street, when he spotted a figure slouched over, resting up against the wall of one of the new build blocks. This wouldn’t be unusual if it wasn’t for the peculiar way the man was dressed, in a motorcycle racing suit, with no bike in sight. It was Doyoung’s intention to simply walk past without paying the strange man any mind, however the man was moaning as if in great pain and Doyoung’s conscience and vocation wouldn’t let him simply ignore someone who was hurt. “Are you hurt?” He didn’t get a verbal response, only another pained groan. Luckily, this wasn’t the first man in pain he’s ever encountered. Or tonight. Not even close. “Can you hear me?” The man seems to be looking at him now, although it’s hard to tell with the helmet. He nods. “Good. Listen, I’m going to call an ambulance. Just bear with me”. At this the man seems to be in distress. He shakes his head and reaches for Doyoung’s hand, preventing him from getting his phone out of his pocket. “It’s ok, I’ll stay with you until they arrive”. He takes his hand and goes to get his phone out again. The man protests again. This time he has a strong grip on Doyoung’s wrist, which he definitely does _not_ like. “Let go, I’m trying to help you”. The hand falls away from him immediately, as if he remembers himself . Doyoung sighs in relief, at least the guy might not be a creep. Which reminds him, “I’m going to take your helmet off”. The announcement is met with another protest. Doyoung makes quick work of removing the gear, careful not to tug on the other’s neck or jostle him too much.

It’s dark on the street, but Doyoung has no trouble recognising the face. “Taeyong?!” he exclaims. Now that he can see the injured man’s face he can more accurately gauge the state he’s in. He seems lucid, no sign of any head injury, Doyoung notes. “What the fuck are you doing?” “Right now? I’m just, just sitting here” Taeyong rasps in response. Doyoung forgot how infuriating he can be. He takes a deep breath. “Can you stand?” He gets an affirmative response. “Here’s what we’re going to do”

Doyoung has had his fair share of strange, awkward, surreal things happen to him. This was definitely up there. He had managed to keep Taeyong upright on the way up in the lift and even while he was trying to get his front door unlocked, which was a two hand job so he had to carefully rest the older against the wall. The toughest part was supporting his weight while he scrambled onto the kitchen counter next to the sink. “I can’t believe you’ve roped me into this. I’ve just finished a shift at the hospital, you know?” He complained while fetching his kit from the cupboard. “I mean, technically it was your idea.” The other retorted. “I can still change my mind and leave you on that curb. Actually, I wouldn’t do that but that’s only because you’re too heavy to carry all the way back there.” His previous anger and worry was starting to fizzle away with their interaction. Curse Taeyong and his charming personality. Doyoung thinks.

“I need you to strip down.” “Really? You’re going to take advantage of me while I’m in this state?” judging by Taeyong’s face, his response was automatic. An old habit. “Please stop talking. Just take your clothes off.” He smiled, hoping playing along with the older’s banter will keep the tension at bay. He unzipped the suit, taking care removing it. He pulled the right sleeve off, uncovering a deep gash on his left arm, from his elbow halfway down his forearm. “Fuck me, that’s going to need stitches. What the hell happened to you?” Doyoung’s body seemed to respond on its own at the sight, as he got to work slowing the bleeding. “If I tell you can you promise not to be mad?” Taeyong said, looking down at Doyoung. He looked so young whenever he made that face, boyish. It still had the same effect on Doyoung. “I’m going to regret saying ‘yes’ aren’t I” “So there was a knife.” “A knife?!” “Yeah, it was pretty big. I guess you could call it a machete.” Taeyong said in a conversational tone. Doyoung hates his habit of downplaying serious things. “A machete, Taeyong? What the hell were you doing with a machete?” “ _I_ wasn’t doing anything” “What do you mean _you_ weren’t doing anything? Actually, you know what, don’t answer that. This isn’t even really happening. I passed out somewhere and am dreaming about this. That’s the only way any of this makes sense.” “You dream about me often?” There was a stupid grin on Taeyong’s face as he said this. Doyoung shook his head, choosing not to respond to the taunt and instead focusing on preparing the arm for stitches.

They stayed silent like that for a little while. Taeyong didn’t say anything else, only letting out a pained hiss every so often. Eventually, the worst of the damage was taken care of, so he got to work on the other wounds. Those were mere scratches in comparison. He looked up at Taeyong’s face, checking in. The other was looking at him, his expression was one he hadn’t seen aimed at himself from Taeyong or anyone else in a long time. It was the kind of look he gave him as he woke up next to him on a Saturday morning. The kind of look he gave him from across the table at the busy cafe they would meet at for lunch on busy days. A fond look. It made his skin itch and his cheeks burn. “I missed you at the engagement party.” Taeyong spoke softly. Doyoung could handle the crude jokes, the playful taunts, even the worry. This he couldn’t handle. “I, uh, had work. Came up last minute.” He didn’t look him in the eye. Taeyong hummed. He clearly didn’t buy the excuse. One of the side effects of knowing someone like they did each other. He knew exactly when Doyoung was bulshitting. “I’m going to get you a change of clothes, you can sleep here tonight.”

Now patched up, Taeyong didn’t have any problem hopping off the counter unassisted. He followed Doyoung into his room, sitting on the bed as the taller went through his wardrobe. “This should fit you.” The other took the clothes and immediately broke out into a smile. “Of course they’ll fit me, these are mine!” Doyoung couldn’t help but smile too. He left Taeyong to change in his bedroom while he showered. When he came back out the older was tucked into his bed. Doyoung contemplated going out into the living room and sleeping on the couch, but he was so tired and his bed was so comfy. He turned the light off and slipped in under the covers. He couldn’t shake the earlier conversation and the darkness made it easier to speak honestly. “The work thing” He felt the shift on the other side of the bed. “It wasn’t last minute. I put myself down for that day weeks in advance. I was avoiding seeing you.” Taeyong only hummed sleepily. “I know.” Then he asked the question that has been on his mind ever since he saw him outside the building. “How did you know I lived here?” “I didn’t” came the mumbled response. Before Doyoung could think of the implications of this answer, he was fast asleep.


	2. Frenzy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this was a struggle the document glitched and turned the whole thing into complete gibberish I spent ages deciphering it but it’s here now i hope everyone enjoys reading 💙

After waking up next morning, Doyoung lay in bed and let the night come back to him. As he looked around the room there was little indication that it was anything other than a dream after all. 

In the kitchen, the bin was full. At the top were wet paper towels. It made Doyoung smile, he could practically see Taeyong unable to leave before he made sure the surface was properly disinfected. Then it hit him. Taeyong left his place first thing in the morning with a bunch of stitches in his arm and went to work. He may have been too tired to chastise him properly last night but now he was going to get it. 

He got his phone from the room and dialled the number he still had saved under ‘TY🥺’. He could have predicted that the phone would be turned off, but that didn’t mean it didn’t irritate him further. He dialled another number. “Hello?” “Johnny, hi.” He greeted cheerfully. “Hey, Doyoung. What’s up? You never ring me at this time. Have you got the day off?” “Yeah, I’ve got the day off today. I actually wanted to ask if you had the number for Taeyong’s office?” Doyoung knows he does. “Oh! I do, I’ll send it over straight away. How come you need his work number? He’s not changed his number in- ever.” The older man asked curiously. “It’s for a patient, they need some legal advice. I can’t really tell you any details, it’s confidential.” “Right, confidential. If you speak to him, tell him I said ‘hello’. How have you been? We all missed you at the party.” “I will. I’m sorry about that. I already thanked Taeil for the photos he sent over.” “Don’t worry about it, we all understand. I just hope you’ll be able to make it to the wedding without any trouble. I’m sure Taeil already sent you the date. The invitations go out next week.” “I’ve already put down for leave at work, I’m sure they won’t miss me too much. I’d be unbearable if I was to miss it, so really they’ll just be doing themselves a favour.” Johnny laughed warmly. “Taeyong would probably threaten to sue the hospital.” He joked. Doyoung laughed along, ignoring the pang in his chest. “I actually need to go but it was nice hearing from you, take care.” “You too, I’ll send my RSVP over as soon as I get the invitation.” They said their goodbyes and almost as soon as the call ended, a message came through with a phone number. Doyoung rang it without second thought. Johnny had distracted him from how furious he was at Taeyong. 

The moment he heard the phone being answered it all came back to him. “Lee Taeyong speaking” “Are you always this dumb or is it the blood loss?” “Doyoung” he sighs. As if he was expecting this call. “Can we do this another time? I’ve got a meeting with an important client soon.” Taeyong tries to reason. Normally, this would work to stop Doyoung’s oncoming tirade in its tracks. However, this time it was like a red rag to a bull. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realise I needed an appointment. Why don’t you put me through to the reception?” “Doyoung, you-“ “No, put me through to the reception, Taeyong. I’ll schedule an appointment” He knows he’s being silly and stubborn, but he’s mad. “You know, you’re being ridiculous. Fine, here you go.” The call cut off and after about a minute of hold music, he got through to a friendly receptionist. 

As it happened there was a slot for the afternoon on the same day. He got booked in for lunchtime. Doyoung was certain it was Taeyong’s doing. Probably passed a message to make an exception for Doyoung. Doyoung was being petty earlier and Taeyong was humouring him. He always did . Doyoung felt fully justified in his pettiness. He was angry and upset. Most of all he was worried.

The time passed at the blink of an eye.  __ Before he knew it, it was almost noon. On his way to see Taeyong he stopped to pick up food. He got the address of the company from the receptionist. The office was in a tall building Doyoung recalls being a construction site the last time he was in the area. The company’s offices only took up one of the two dozen floors. The rest is occupied by insurance and financial firms. As he arrived on the 8th floor he was almost immediately greeted by Mark, the one he had spoken to earlier on. “Mr. Kim, good afternoon. Mr Lee should be ready to see you. I’ll just let him know you're here.” “No need, I’m sure he's expecting me. He knows I’m always punctual. If you could just point me to his office.” Mark considers it and nods. “Of course, it’s just down that corridor, third door on the left.” “Thank you” 

He knocked on the door three times before opening. Taeyong was leaning back in his desk chair, staring at the ceiling as he walked in. The look on his face was like a deer in the headlights. Doyoung placed the bag of food in front of him before sitting down in one of the chairs. “It should still be hot. I got you beef, there should be some tofu in there and I got you a side of green vegetables as well. Plenty of iron” Taeyong gaped. “Eat up, this is your lunch break isn’t it?” Doyoung waited for Taeyong to lay all the food out on his desk. The older didn’t speak, only casting quick glances at Doyoung, clearly waiting for him to speak first. “Do you want to tell me what the hell happened last night?” Doyoung asked. “Not particularly, but I don’t really have much of a choice, do I?” He sighs. “There was an  _ altercation. _ ” He starts. Once again, Doyoung reaches boiling point. “For fuck sake, Taeyong! Stop it with the sugarcoating. No one brings a blade like that to an ‘altercation’. Just tell me what you’ve got yourself involved in. I’m not the fucking police, I’m  _ worried  _ about you.” A silence looms over them. “Ok” Taeyong says weakly. “I have a client, this guy has been stalking her for months. I’m talking real messed up shit. She sued him, wanted a court order to keep him away, the court found him innocent. Last night I paid him a visit, told him to stay away, he got nasty, pulled a knife on me and I ended up bleeding outside your house.” Doyoung is gobsmacked. “Does he know it was you?” “Had the helmet on the whole time, as far as he’s concerned it could have been anyone.” Doyoung is a little relieved. “It doesn’t matter how noble your reason was, it was a stupid idea. That cut on your arm is nothing compared to what could have happened.”

  
Doyoung stands up. “Anyway, let me see it. You ran out this morning and I didn’t even get a look at you.” Taeyong pulls his arm away. “It’s doing fine, you don’t have to look at it.” “Let me see it. I’m a nurse, remember? I’ve brought some spare bandages with me” He gets a hold of his wrist and pulls the sleeve up past the elbow. Only to find there’s nothing there. No bandage, no wound, not even a mark.  _ Weird _ . Maybe it was the other arm. He was tired last night he could have just got the wrong arm. He pulls up the other sleeve. Not even a scratch. “What is this? I stayed up stitching your arm up last night. You just said you got into a knife fight. What is going on?” He looks at Taeyong for answers. He can feel himself shaking, feeling like he’s losing his grip on reality. “Calm down” Taeyong puts him back in the chair he was sitting in. “I can explain” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A wee twist

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading


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